Lou Canellis moves up to top sports job at Fox Chicago

September 7, 2010

Veteran Chicago sportscaster Lou Canellis, who's been handling morning sports duties and Bears football coverage for WFLD-Channel 32, has been promoted to main sports anchor at the Fox-owned station.

In moving up to the 9 p.m. newscast anchored by Bob Sirott and Robin Robinson, Canellis succeeds Corey McPherrin, who shifted last month to hosting "Good Day Chicago" with Anna Davlantes from 7 to 10 a.m. weekdays.‚ The new deal for Canellis, via agent Steve Mandell, calls for him to appear on the 9 p.m. newscast Sundays through Thursdays, and host "The Final Word" at 10 p.m. Sundays.

The position had been up for grabs since weekend sports anchor Jill Carlson left the station rather than "audition" for the top job as a free-lancer after her contract was not renewed. Among others reported to have pitched the job were Jeff Blanzy, formerly of ABC-owned WLS-Channel 7, and Howard Sudberry, formerly of CBS-owned WBBM-Channel 2.

A native of south suburban Oak Lawn and graduate of Loyola University, Canellis first gained widespread attention in the '90s as part of the Bulls broadcast team on SportsChannel and sports/talk WMVP-AM (1000). His post-game courtside interviews with Michael Jordan were always a highlight for fans.

Canellis also worked for Tribune Co.-owned CLTV and served as a regular contributor to "190 North," the weekly magazine show on Channel 7. He continues to appear regularly on Roe Conn and Richard Roeper's afternoon show on Citadel Broadcasting news/talk WLS-AM (890).